Enhancing NASA's Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Using Highly Efficient Thermoelectric Materials

This project proposal aims to enhance NASA’s Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) by identifying and analyzing new material technologies that have been researched for their excellent thermoelectric properties at higher temperatures. By choosing the most efficient thermoelectric material available, the MMRTG’s energy conversion efficiency will be greatly improved as thermoelectric generator efficiencies are largely determined by the properties of the materials within the thermocouple devices used to convert the heat into energy. A project that focuses on enhancing the MMRTG is imperative for the future of space exploration as there is global shortage of plutonium fuel production, limiting future missions to available supplies. A more efficient generator will minimize the use of this fuel while maximizing power output, allowing for increased mission capabilities and better conservation of the scarce plutonium fuel. In this report, lanthanum telluride, Yb14MnSb14, and a multiple-filled skutterudite (SKD) compound are analyzed for their excellent thermoelectric performance. The multiple filled SKD compound is chosen as the ideal material to enhance the MMRTG based on the low cost and low risks associated with the material while producing a nearly identical efficiency relative to the other candidates. Keywords: eMMRTG, MMRTG, thermoelectric materials, thermoelectric generator, efficiency

Determining the Most Accurate and Early Form for Detection of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is the most common vector-based disease with over 300,000 new cases each year. The current diagnostic system for those with Early Lyme disease is only about 40% accurate. Since the severity of symptoms and probability of recurrence significantly increases as time progresses, there is a need to find a new alternative diagnostic system for Early Lyme disease. Many solutions to this problem are considered within this document, most notably: polymerase chain reaction detection, metabolic biosignature testing, and OspC targeting serological testing. After further analysis, metabolic biosignature testing is considered the best alternative since it yields the highest diagnosis sensitivity with around 89% accuracy. Additionally, metabolic biosignature testing is both cost effective and widely applicable since it does not require the Erythema migran rash to be used. Once in place, Lyme disease will be able to be diagnosed quicker, thus reducing the number of cases of Chronic Lyme disease which significantly reduces personal quality of life and is often costly. Keywords: Early Lyme disease, Metabolic Biosignature, Serological testing, Borrelia burgdorferi, Diagnostic Standards, Polymerase Chain Reaction

Stormwater Management: A Keystone for Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a major goal of the 21st century, and there are many ways to ensure that one generation’s lifestyle and consumption habits do not comprise those of a future generation. It can be overwhelming to look at the many ways sustainable development can be achieved. In this paper, I focus on sustainable stormwater management practices, called Best Management Practices (BMPs). There are many different types of BMPs, and in this paper, I look at explore several popular options. I also look through several policies that impact sustainable water management and look to possible policy solutions for the future.

Integrating Non-Friction-Based Braking Technology into Locomotives to Improve Train Efficiency, Durability, and Safety

While frictional braking is an intuitive method by which to slow vehicles, it is also a costly braking method due to the fact that frictional brakes wear down due to frequent use and high quantities of friction. On trains, this problem is worse because of their constant use and because heavier objects require stronger braking forces. The objective is to improve locomotive performance by developing a braking system that utilizes non-frictional braking technology to cut these costs and yield safer, more durable brakes. This project is directed towards dieselelectric3 locomotives with air brakes, as engineers can design blended braking systems that integrate non-frictional braking into these braking systems. The candidate solutions include regenerative, rheostatic, and hydrodynamic braking, two of which use magnetic fields, and the third of which uses fluid drag forces. Regenerative braking is the proposed solution due to its ability to harness and use electricity during braking. Project success would contribute to railway company success by reducing expenses spent on air brakes; it would also contribute to locomotive manufacturer success because the product will likely become a popular technology. Finally, it would benefit the environment by reducing the external energy required by the railway network. Keywords: Locomotive, braking, non-frictional, regenerative, rheostatic, hydrodynamic, diesel-electric

Madness and Revolution: The Impact of Radicalism on the Treason Trial of James Hadfield

The insanity defense is a doctrine in the criminal law which excuses from punishment defendants who commit crimes as the result of serious mental illness. However, the sorts of mental illness that qualify for the defense, as well as the causal connection required between the illness and the act, have varied widely across Anglo-American legal history. This thesis argues that historians have not sufficiently considered the role that radicalism and social unrest have played in shaping the defense, and explores the 1800 treason trial of James Hadfield for the attempted assassination of King George III, where government fears of the French Revolution and associated English radicals helped to reshape the insanity defense.

Using Reverse Osmosis, Electrodialysis, and Nanofiltration to Increase Affordable Desalinated Groundwater Use in Texas

Droughts and flooding that have impacted Texas have decreased surface water availability, while draining the limited number of non-saline groundwater sources. Therefore, desalination of saline groundwater would be able to supplement the increasing demand of water for industrial and domestic uses. The process would have to be affordable and capable of meeting WHO1 standards for drinking water. Of the current desalination options available, the methods analyzed are reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, and nanofiltration. Of the three options, it was determined that reverse osmosis was the best solution for the desalination of saline groundwater for both industrial and domestic uses. Reverse osmosis filters saline water to meet WHO standards for sodium and chloride ions. Although both RO and electrodialysis processes were effective enough for eliminating total dissolved solids in the sample saline waters, only RO yielded potable water. If this system is successfully implemented, it could supplement the nonsaline groundwater being used for human consumption, as well as yield RO discharge water for residential or industrial uses. As a result, the severe impacts of the reoccurring droughts in Texas can be reduced, while lessening the drainage of the non-saline groundwater reservoirs in Texas. Keywords: Desalinated Groundwater, Reverse Osmosis, Electrodialysis, Nanofiltration, cost- comparison, potable water, brackish water desalination

Neocolonialism and the Ecological Crisis of the Suez Canal

Since its construction in the mid-1800’s, Egypt’s Suez Canal has been a source of international conflict, economic growth, and ecological turmoil. Because it regularly transports a large number of oil tankers from the Suez Port to Port Said, the canal is one of the most valuable waterways in the world. However, in linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea, the canal has caused hundreds of invasive species to migrate to the Mediterranean -- most notably invasive sea jellies. This has led to damaging effects on industries surrounding the welfare of the sea; for example, fisheries and tourism. In late 2015, despite these ecological concerns, the canal was expanded to include a parallel channel, allowing for two-way travel. While supporters envisioned positive transformations to Egypt’s high poverty and unemployment rates, the expansion’s possible long-term effects on the ocean and industries based on the ocean were neglected in discussion. My goal is to examine these ongoing effects and their consequences on humans whose livelihoods depend on the Mediterranean Sea as a resource, with a focus on how the influx of migrating species, specifically gelatinous zooplankton, have already affected fisheries, agriculture, and tourism. I also look at the eutrophication of nearby waters through chemical disposal from local factories, one of the causes of jellyfish blooms. While the Suez Canal has led to much economic growth for Egypt, the waterway’s growing negative ecological effects may override its positive influences in the long run.

Methods of On-Site Electricity Generation with Landfill Gas

The US consumes large quantities of electricity. As a result, there is a growing concern that energy may not be readily available in the future. This worry is compounded by the depletion of traditional sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Municipal solid waste in landfills is a resource the country may utilize as a renewable source of energy, as the gas produced from landfills can be used to power generators for electricity production, rather than wasted and flared to comply with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act standards. Systems that utilize reciprocating internal combustion engines, microturbines, and molten carbonate fuel cells can feasibly and cleanly reduce landfill gas emissions while producing electricity. However, these methods require input work and initial investments. The main economic goal is to maximize energy production. After economic analysis, the molten carbonate fuel cell system was determined to be the most efficient due to its versatility and low emissions. The successful implementation of the system may result in the propagation of the system, the increase in value of landfill gas, and the waste that produces landfill gas. This may also lead to restructuring of municipal waste system to enhance the usage of landfill gas. Keywords: municipal solid waste, MSW, landfill gas, reciprocating internal combustion engines, microturbines, molten carbonate fuel cells, MCFCs, siloxanes, emissions, greenhouse gases.

From Queen Latifah to Lil’ Kim: The Evolution of the Feminist M.C.

The feminist lyricism of early female hip-hop artists conveyed a message of empowerment, and an awareness of the power of one’s own femininity. Artists like Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Monie Love and Queen Latifah reigned as the queens of hip-hop in the late 80’s and early 90’s, cementing their legacy as hip-hop royalty. But it was during the late 90’s and into the millennium, that this feminist message within hip-hop music began to change. A new kind of feminism was developing within the music and culture, with lyrics focused on sexual liberation, control, and sexual domination. In this paper, I will argue that while the style in which these concepts were presented, there no distinct difference between the feminist philosophy of a socially-conscious artist like Queen Latifah or a more sexually liberated artist like Lil’ Kim. Both encouraged women to be liberated, empowered and to resist sexist oppression through the genre of hip-hop.

On Ethnic Relations and Integration: Vietnamese Perspectives on the Ethnic Chinese in Colonial Sài Gòn (1900–1940)

Historians studying Vietnamese intellectual and political history have evaluated the negative perspectives that the Vietnamese educated class expressed in political journalism, especially newspapers, as an expression of nationalism and anti-foreign sentiments. This hostile attitude from the Vietnamese community was correlated with the fact that the Chinese during this time were relatively segregated from the larger community with their own social and political system of governance. However, a deeper study of Vietnamese newspapers would show how their narratives were ambivalently mixed among antagonism, admiration, and even sympathy. Other literary sources such as popular literature also presented more moderate voices that took into consideration the contributions of the ethnic Chinese as a long-established immigrant-settler community in the southern region. This plurality of perspectives, as represented in Vietnamese newspapers and popular literature published in the first four decades of the twentieth centuries, demonstrated how the relationship between the two ethnic groups were influenced not just by colonial policy and ethnic nationalism but also individual economic or political motives. This paper examines the portrayals of ethnic Chinese people in selected sources of Vietnamese newspapers and popular literature written in the colonial period. Most of the publications were written in the new romanized Vietnamese script (chữ Quốc ngữ) and were published from the 1900s to 1940s. First, I will explain the historical background of Chinese migration and settlement in southern Vietnam and the context of Vietnamese intellectual and political history in the early twentieth century. Second, I examine the ambivalent anti-Chinese stance demonstrated in certain early twentieth century newspapers, including Quốc dân diễn đàn, Lục tỉnh tân văn, Đông Pháp thờibáo, and Thần chung. I will focus on how the political goals and affiliations of these newspapers impacted their views toward the Chinese and prove that they did not necessarily reflect hostile relations between the two communities.